Elite U.S. Special Forces soldiers arrived in Mexico this week, ostensibly on a mission to train the country’s armed forces.
Representatives of the U.S. Army’s 7th Special Forces Group and the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) confirmed the cross-border assignment in emailed statements shared with FreeBase News on Feb. 18.
Those officials insisted this cross-border assignment is a part of “routine, pre-planned military training.”
Still, the announcement comes as President Donald Trump has ordered increased U.S. military activity along the U.S. southern border, and has taken other steps to combat cartels and other transnational criminal organizations. In one of his first moves in office, Trump authorized his administration to begin designating cartels and other criminal organizations groups as terrorist groups, raising the prospect of direct U.S. military action against said organizations.
According to documents published by the Mexican Senate’s naval commission, the U.S. troops will be in the country from Feb. 17 to March 28, at the Mexican military base on San Luis Carrizo in the southern Mexican state of Campeche.
For now, information about the deployment of U.S. Special Forces soldiers in Mexico remains limited.
When reached for comment, the 7th Special Forces Group declined to say how many of its personnel would take part in this training activity in Mexico, citing “operational security” concerns. While the group spokesman said this training activity is part of a long-standing relationship with Mexico, he declined to share more details about the partnership.